This is a blog about my business emmy-ray, my latest floral and jewelry work, my inspiration, and all the things I love.

08/22/2016

Fresh flowers are gorgeous. You can't beat the smells, textures, and colors of beautiful blooms. Sure we'd love to have them in our homes all the time, but lets face it, they can be expensive and of course they only last so long. I've worked with Afloral on a few projects before, like this colorful table setting I styled, and wedding arch, and if you want to be surrounded by flowers all the time faux should be considered as a great alternative. Today I'm going to show you how to create a beautiful modern moody floral arrangement using faux blooms.

08/19/2016

Sometimes people come into your lives, and you feel lucky to have them. Rebecca Peters is one of those people. Not only is she a talented photographer, but I'm also happy to call her my friend. We've known about each other for years via the wedding industry, but started to chat more when we discovered our E girls (as we call them) were born just a month apart. She specializes in shooting beautiful lifestyle photography for families. When she asked me to collaborate with her by doing some floral styling on this adorable little stand she created, I jumped at the chance, and also got some family maternity pictures taken by her too (duh, no brainer).

08/17/2016

Phew guys, it's been a long time since I wrote anything on this little corner of the internet I call mine. It goes like this (I'm sure you all know), you get busy, the days turn into weeks, the weeks turn into months, and all of a sudden people are asking if you're even blogging anymore? Hmmmmm....well the answer is yes, but I've definitely fallen behind here on some HUGE changes that are happening so let me fill you in:

WE MOVED

Yes it's true, we did it, we finally moved. We kept it quiet, putting the offer on the house all the way back in December, and it was a long, arduous process (mostly for my husband dealing with the mortgage people). Then the actual move itself was literally one of the top five worst experiences of my life.

It's one thing to know in the dark corners of your mind that you have a whole lot of crap in your house, it's quite another to have it paraded out in front of you, your husband, your family (who is kind enough to help you move), and a couple of total strangers. Like embarrassing amounts of stuff, which I still haven't unpacked. Crafter/hand maker = semi-hoarder. Fortunately we have a big unfinished basement, a nice big garage, and lots of other storage spaces. The rest of the house is shaping up nicely, and we've already hosted lots of people and are loving our new space.

Oh, and yes, lest I forget to mention the previous owner was a master gardner, so there is an amazing yard with the most beautiful collection of perennials, which makes this floral designer very, very happy! You can follow along with our new house, and all the fun projects we're working on with #thewalterstudor or via my Instagram @emmyray.

WE'RE HAVING A BABY

Yeppers, you heard right. Baby numero dos is on the way, due to make the big debut October 2016. We didn't do a big formal announcement like last time, and we actually aren't finding out the sex either. We want it to be a fun surprise this time around. But we do have names for boy and girl picked out, and also the nursery is already all decorated in my head (sharing more on that very soon).

However as with most second children, and the stereotype is totally true, I have been terrible at documenting everything so far, but that's what happens when you spend 80% of your day chasing around a toddler. I can't tell you how many people have said "I didn't even know you were pregnant". Surprise everyone! We're beyond excited to be expanding this little family of ours though, and can't wait to meet this little one.

I think those are the biggies for now. I've had so many great ideas swimming around and lots of good content built up guys, that I can't wait to share with you soon. Can't wait to catch up and get back into the swing of things again!

02/10/2016

Let me tell you a Valentine's Day story. When I was in high school, I never had a boyfriend on February 14th. Sure I dated a few dudes now and then, but the timing just never worked out. But the one thing I always wanted was to have flowers delivered to my school, so that at the end of the day I'd hear my name announced over the intercom, along with all the other girls with boyfriends. Totally ridiculous, I know, and looking back I can see that all those arrangements and gifts were downright cheesy (and let's face it, just kind of ugly). Generic roses and babies breath? No thanks (sorry guys, I'm a flower snob to the max).

Here's what I say, why do you need someone to send you flowers on Valentine's Day? Sure it's the thought that counts, but why not treat-yo-self, in style I might add? This DIY Modern Valentine's Day Arrangement using grocery store blooms sticks to the classic pink and red color palette, but with fun funky textures, and combinations to really wow. Plus with the techniques in this post you can create thoughtful gifts for your mom, sisters, and friends.

02/03/2016

Okay guys, confession time. I'm totally and completely obsessed with pancake art. Have you seen it? I came across some in the past few months via Instagram, and watching the videos of how they make them are mesmerizing (for me at least, I'm easy to entertain). My favorite is Dr. Dan the Pancake Man (find him on Insta @dancakes). He is off the charts awesome!

I love making royal icing cookies, that was my obsession in 2015, and I feel like pancake art is quite similar in many ways, so I thought I'd give it a try. This was my first attempt, and I decided to make mine Valentine's Day Emoji Pancakes. I thought they turned out super adorable, and I'm sharing the process with you guys too, what worked, what didn't, and what supplies I used.